A right wing candidate was elected president: Now what?

We don't have to speculate. Just hours after the election Abelardo de la Espriella and U.S. Senator Bernie Moreno (R-OH) reached an agreement on deportations, mandating that any Colombian citizen requesting asylum in the U.S. should return to Colombia, reversing Petro's policy (Petro refused to accept repatriation flights), and pissing off a large number of Colombians who have legally requested asylum as U.S. law permits, Colombians who have no desire to be deported to Colombia but will be because of Abelardo's loyalty to the United States.

Abelardo is loyal to the United States because he is a U.S. citizen. He swore an oath to defend the United States when he became a United States citizen. Abelardo's loyalty is not with Colombia. He does not respect Colombians who wish to remain in the United States. He supports a foreign government that wants to illegally deport Colombians who are legally in the United States.

When Abelardo became a U.S. citizen he swore an oath to renounce allegiances and fidelities to any foreign prince, state, or sovereign. He officially renounced allegiance to Colombia and made a deal with U.S. Senator Bernie Moreno to disregard the legal rights of Colombians seeking asylum in the United States.

We don't have to speculate. Just hours after the election Abelardo de la Espriella and U.S. Senator Bernie Moreno (R-OH) reached an agreement on deportations, mandating that any Colombian citizen requesting asylum in the U.S. should return to Colombia, reversing Petro's policy (Petro refused to accept repatriation flights), and pissing off a large number of Colombians who have legally requested asylum as U.S. law permits, Colombians who have no desire to be deported to Colombia but will be because of Abelardo's loyalty to the United States.
Abelardo is loyal to the United States because he is a U.S. citizen. He swore an oath to defend the United States when he became a United States citizen. Abelardo's loyalty is not with Colombia. He does not respect Colombians who wish to remain in the United States. He supports a foreign government that wants to illegally deport Colombians who are legally in the United States.

When Abelardo became a U.S. citizen he swore an oath to renounce allegiances and fidelities to any foreign prince, state, or sovereign. He officially renounced allegiance to Colombia and made a deal with U.S. Senator Bernie Moreno to disregard the legal rights of Colombians seeking asylum in the United States. - @futuroexpat

So Petro didn't accept Colombians to return to Colombia?  His own people?  The US Courts just said that asking for Asylum doesn't mean you earn it.  So, yes, they should return to Colombia, or perhaps, stay in the country from where they are requesting asylum.  Are these people fleeing persecution or danger in Colombia under Petro?  He promised Paz Total, yet delivered higher guerilla and gang activity.

Petro is also an Italian citizen, requiring an oath to allegiance, and a commitment on defending the republic of Italy.    Abelardo is also an Italian citizen.  I personally believe anyone holding citizenship of another country shouldn't be allowed to run for president.  But Petro did it...  what's different with Abelardo, eh?

The US is not illegally removing Colombians.  Period.  That's not just misinformation or a false narrative.  That's an outright lie.

ICE does remove Colombians illegally from the United States even when they have no criminal records. There have also been documented instances of wrongful deportations and targeted expulsions of people with protected statuses. Masked ICE agents in unmarked vehicles engage in kidnapping, which is illegal, and murder of people with no criminal record, which is illegal, and disappearance of people to CECOT in El Salvador, which is illegal.

Reports from human rights organizations have found that many Colombians who had no gang affiliations or criminal records were illegally sent to CECOT in El Salvador.

Petro publicly demanded the repatriation of Colombian nationals held in El Salvador following their illegal deportations. Abelardo de la Espriella heavily approves of El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison model and has made replicating it a cornerstone of his political platform.

By the way, besides wanting to imprison Colombians in mega-prisons, Abelardo de la Espriella wants to pursue a policy of "mano dura" (iron fist) which Alvaro Uribe pursued for eight years. It didn't work. I still remember Uribe saying he would "aniquilar" la guerrilla. He failed. "Mano dura" does not work.

Reaching out to ex-guerrillas is a better policy than "mano dura" and there is some hope because Abelardo de la Espriella appointed Carlos Alonso Lucio, a former member of the M-19 guerrilla movement, to head Abelardo's transition team. 

The United States is not kidnapping Colombians and removing them illegally.  The USA is now finally following its immigration laws as written - if you're in the country illegally you are subject to deportation, period.  Those claiming asylum must follow the asylum laws and protocols - here is a site that lists some of the latest changes:

https://asaptogether.org/en/law-changes-jan-2025/

Colombians who were around and paying attention all agree that Álvaro Uribe's 8 years were the safest they can remember.  Freedom to travel was restored and the economy boomed, as mano dura decimated guerilla activity and general lawlessness.

"Reaching out" to the guerillas has only resulted in more guerilla activity, more kidnappings, more lawlessness.  We saw this in the elections where in many places in Colombia people were forced at gunpoint to vote for Cepeda, the voto fusil.  Thankfully this was not enough to give Cepeda the win.

ICE does remove Colombians illegally from the United States even when they have no criminal records. There have also been documented instances of wrongful deportations and targeted expulsions of people with protected statuses. Masked ICE agents in unmarked vehicles engage in kidnapping, which is illegal, and murder of people with no criminal record, which is illegal, and disappearance of people to CECOT in El Salvador, which is illegal.
Reports from human rights organizations have found that many Colombians who had no gang affiliations or criminal records were illegally sent to CECOT in El Salvador.

Petro publicly demanded the repatriation of Colombian nationals held in El Salvador following their illegal deportations. Abelardo de la Espriella heavily approves of El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison model and has made replicating it a cornerstone of his political platform.

By the way, besides wanting to imprison Colombians in mega-prisons, Abelardo de la Espriella wants to pursue a policy of "mano dura" (iron fist) which Alvaro Uribe pursued for eight years. It didn't work. I still remember Uribe saying he would "aniquilar" la guerrilla. He failed. "Mano dura" does not work.

Reaching out to ex-guerrillas is a better policy than "mano dura" and there is some hope because Abelardo de la Espriella appointed Carlos Alonso Lucio, a former member of the M-19 guerrilla movement, to head Abelardo's transition team. - @futuroexpat

Talk about misinformation being spread....geesh....  This is flat out lying...

Petro's economic policies did this...Didn't someone brag about what a great economist Petro was?

Colombia is emerging as one of the economies with the largest imbalance in its public accounts in 2026. A forecast by The Economist Intelligence Unit places the country as having the third-highest fiscal deficit among 43 economies analyzed, an indicator that reflects the deterioration of public finances and points to a challenging scenario for the next government.

According to the report, Colombia’s fiscal deficit is expected to reach 6.6% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), surpassed only by Brazil at 7.3% and Poland at 7%. The figure is well above the target set by the government itself in its Medium-Term Fiscal Framework and confirms economists’ warnings about the growing imbalance between government revenues and spending commitments.

Let's hope the new administration can right this wrong...

(...)
Abelardo is loyal to the United States because he is a U.S. citizen. He swore an oath to defend the United States when he became a United States citizen. Abelardo's loyalty is not with Colombia.

(...)

- @futuroexpat

I wonder if his supporters are aware of these easily-verifiable facts. And if they were aware, would it matter, or would they just double-down and dismiss that huge glaring conflict of interest?

De la Espriella holds both US citizenship and Italian citizenship as well as being a Colombian citizen by birth.

Gustavo Petro also holds Italian citizenship but apparently this never bothered anyone least of all his followers.

By their fruits ye shall know them.  We know what Petro has done.  We'll begin to see what de la Espriella can do starting August 7, 2026.

(...)
Abelardo is loyal to the United States because he is a U.S. citizen. He swore an oath to defend the United States when he became a United States citizen. Abelardo's loyalty is not with Colombia.
(...)
- @futuroexpat
I wonder if his supporters are aware of these easily-verifiable facts. And if they were aware, would it matter, or would they just double-down and dismiss that huge glaring conflict of interest? - @ChineduOpara

Not sure his supporters are aware, but there were plenty of news articles and concerns about it.  So much so that a group of high court justices and constitutional scholars questioned his candadicy.

They essentially found that there is nothing in the constitution preventing this.

And those that voted for him and knew, thought he was still the better candidate.

I personally think he should drop his US Citizenship to show his loyalty to Colombia, and remove any doubt from the left.  It's only going to become the focus of any relationship with the US he brings, not matter how successful, or unsuccessful.

The United States is not kidnapping Colombians and removing them illegally. The USA is now finally following its immigration laws as written - if you're in the country illegally you are subject to deportation, period. Those claiming asylum must follow the asylum laws and protocols - here is a site that lists some of the latest changes:
https://asaptogether.org/en/law-changes-jan-2025/

Colombians who were around and paying attention all agree that Álvaro Uribe's 8 years were the safest they can remember. Freedom to travel was restored and the economy boomed, as mano dura decimated guerilla activity and general lawlessness.

"Reaching out" to the guerillas has only resulted in more guerilla activity, more kidnappings, more lawlessness. We saw this in the elections where in many places in Colombia people were forced at gunpoint to vote for Cepeda, the voto fusil. Thankfully this was not enough to give Cepeda the win. - @OsageArcher

Stop listening to Trump.

Stop listening to Trump.
- @SimCityAT

Most Colombians do not have TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome) and would be happy to have a strong leader like Trump, who would clearly let everyone know that bad behavior will not be tolerated and everyone had better clean up their act or face the consequences LOL.

Many have hopes that de la Espriella will go in that direction - I think most Colombians will back him if he does.

Stop listening to Trump.
- @SimCityAT

  A post that adds absolutely no value to the discussion...

@OsageArcher

Nothing wrong with being strong...like Uribe, law and order, fiscal responsibility and free trade, freedom.of the press

But Trump? Its the stupid , hipocritical and incompetent and stubnorn  part.of Trump.and his yahoo followers  that gets me.( as a free market,  free living libertarian)

And TACO.is strong one day..well threatrning to send Iran back to the stone age , if that is s stromg...well I dont know...and TACO surrendering to hem.the next dsy with a Versailles treaty MOU

Anyway we all know what a nut bar, charlatán, con man and fake conservative / capitalist Trump.is, we dont have to.repeat it on here.

@mtbe

I agree.

If Conservative Latín Américan leaders buddy.up.to Trump, its for conveience, and to have good relations woth WHOEVER is president of the US, not to emulate him